What is Fate?
by notfrosen
Summary: Iris Evans died Halloween night. Her soul left her body, and another replaced it. Elisa finds herself in a peculiar situation. She knows the story - or at least, she thought she did. If she chooses, she can fix things so Harry Potter never has to suffer. She can help prevent Voldemort's return... assuming Iris Evans' attacker doesn't try to correct their mistake and kill her. OC.
1. Chapter 1

**What is Fate?**

Every muscle ached. There was a throbbing in the back of my head. A vile bitter taste covered my tongue. There were voices surrounding me, unintelligible due to the loud ringing in my ears. I tried to open my eyes but they felt so heavy.

"What's happening?" I tried to speak but was unsure if I succeeded. My tongue felt too big for my mouth. What happened? Did I get hit by another bus? It sure felt like it. What were the odds of that happening twice in a lifetime?

The back of my eyelids turned blood red, and the sudden change startled me. My heart started racing. I attempted to lift my thousand pound eyelids again. The intolerable ringing was starting to fade away into the fog. Someone was trying to communicate. Everything was confusing and frightening and the throbbing intensified.

"Where am I?"

Suddenly my eyelids were wide open. It wasn't my doing. A blurry face of a stranger was a foot away from me. I opened my mouth to speak. Blinding light flashed in my eyes and I yelped in surprise. The light went out and I blinked. It was then that I realized I was speeding through a corridor. Was I in a hospital? That meant these were doctors.

"Good evening, Miss Evans. I'm Healer Southwark. Can you hear me?"

Miss Evans? That wasn't my name. And was that man British? I frowned and blinked a few times. My vision cleared and it was then that I noticed this doctor was pointing a stick at my head. I stared as a tiny slip of paper was spiraling out of the tip. There was a brunette woman by my legs doing something similar. "What is that?" I attempted to point at the stick but pain shot up my arm.

"Please try not to move. You've been badly injured. Do you remember what happened?"

I scrunched my face up. What did happen? Everything was so foggy and my body was aching. I shook my head and hissed when pain jolted up my neck.

"Maggie, get me a vial of PR potion." He told the brunette.

"Right away, Healer Southwark." She had a British accent, too. The doctor - healer? Nurse? - dashed away.

Potions? Healers? Weird sticks? A conclusion formed in my mind, like a beacon of light clearing the fog. My eyes darted back to the Healer. He was pointing the stick at my abdomen. His scrubs were a bright lime green. The photo on his badge smiled at me and blinked. I glanced back at the Healer. His lips were moving, soundless, as he moved the stick in a complicated manner. Blue light glowed from the stick and my insides felt like they were turning into ice.

"What's happening? I don't understand! Where am I?" I could feel the hysteria rising up within me. I tried to sit up. An excruciating pain exploded in my abdomen and I fell onto my back.

"Maggie!" The ringing started up again. I squeezed my eyes shut. What was happening to me?

Someone was touching my arm. "Iris," Who was Iris? That wasn't me. "We're here to help you. Iris can you hear me? Iris?" Everything was getting foggy again. The pounding in my head was making it hard to think – hard to comprehend.

"Iris?"

"Noo," I hissed as the pounding intensified. "My name is Elisa. I'm not Iris." I clenched my teeth. "Please, make the pain stop." My voice cracked. Iciness trickled down my thighs and up my chest, making me feel numb everywhere except for my neck and head. Every passing second my nerves burned hotter and hotter. I wanted to scream.

"Healer Southwark?" There was a gasp.

"It's her magic. Immobulus!" My limbs froze. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I felt my back touch the cold hard stretcher. All I could hear was buzzing. Healer Southwark was looking at me, his lips moving and wand pointed at my temple, but I couldn't understand. Maggie's dark eyes were full of compassion as she showed me the tiny crystal vial in her hand.

Cool crystal touched my cracked lips and a bitter, thick liquid dribbled down my chin and throat. If I could I would have sighed in relief. Almost instantly the burning disappeared, replaced by a dull and almost nonexistent throbbing. I blinked. My eyelids were growing heavier by the moment. I looked at Healer Southwark. His lips moved. Maggie nodded and dashed out of sight.

I blinked again. Healer Southwark was gone.

I was alone.

Darkness embraced me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. My eyelids fluttered open and I groaned. My whole body felt sore. Why? I glanced down at myself and froze.

Those were not my arms.

My hands trembled as I brought them closer to my face. They were pale and freckled. My nails were long and painted electric blue. Wispy blonde hairs covered my arms. Fuzzy memories began to resurface. A man in lime green who called himself a healer pointing a stick at me… Excruciating pain… someone calling me Iris…

"Iris?"

I jumped and turned toward the lime green curtain. It was the same brunette from earlier.

"Yes?" I said as she approached me.

"I'm Healer Southwark's Nurse, Maggie." She smiled. "How are you feeling?"

Tired. Confused. Panicky. Sore. Scared. Hysterical. A list of words went through my mind, but my brain decided to go with, "Okay."

If Nurse Maggie didn't believe me it didn't show on her face. "You must have a lot of questions about what happened last night. I'll let Healer Southwark know you're awake."

She pulled out a stick and I flinched. Her eyes softened and she said, "I'm just going to cast a spell to check your vital signs – Healer Southwark will want to know."

Spell? My heart pounded as she pressed the wood against my wrist. It glowed yellow and warmth traveled up my arm. After what felt like an eternity, she pulled away from my wrist. White paper spiraled out of the tip of what had to be a magic wand. Maggie's face was blank as she read the paper.

Her brown eyes turned to me. "Why don't you lay back and rest? I'll bring you some breakfast in a few minutes. Would you like a warm blanket?"

Mouth dry, I nodded and slowly got under the covers again. Before I could change my mind, Nurse Maggie tapped my blanket twice with her wand. Immediately I was bundled in warmth.

My shock must have been visible because Nurse Maggie said, "You seem surprised by magic." I glanced at her briefly before looking away. She didn't look suspicious… but that didn't mean she wasn't.

I didn't know how to respond. I didn't want to say the wrong thing – so I simply didn't speak at all. The silence grew awkward as I stared at my arms, counting the freckles that didn't belong to me.

"I'm going to speak with Healer Southwark. He should be with you in a few moments."

I nodded and heard her walk out of the room.

Time moved like molasses as I stared at the clock. It had only been three minutes but it felt like hours. All I could remember was waking up on the gurney in pain and meeting Healer Southwark. Everything else – my life beforehand – was foggy. But three things were clear:

My name was definitely not Iris Evans.

I was not a blonde.

Magic was real. Wands and Healers and British people and _Evans…_ I was almost positive I was in the Harry Potter books.

But how?

"Miss Evans?" The curtain was pulled back by Healer Southwark. "How are you feeling right now?" He was smiling but there was something off. It made me nervous.

"Better than last night." I said in my best British accent. I hoped Iris Evans was actually British, otherwise I just screwed up.

He nodded to himself, as if confirming something. "I'm glad." He approached me slowly. "Do you remember what happened last night Miss Evans?" Healer Southwark sat at the edge of my bed.

I shook my head.

"You arrived at St. Mungo's via floo and collapsed. You were legally dead for two minutes. We were able to resuscitate you. Our diagnostic spells showed massive internal bleeding, head trauma, and several broken bones. It was lucky you arrived when you did. Everything is healed up."

"Oh." Did he say St. Mungo's? It was true, then.

"We found identification on you. Your apparition license. It said you're name is Iris Evans."

I tensed up.

"Last night you said that wasn't your name. You said multiple times your name was Elisa." He looked me in the eye. "Do you remember who you are?"

"No." The word all but flew out of my mouth. "I can't remember anything." I croaked, trying to hold my emotions back.

A look of compassion crossed his face. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "We're going to do all that we can to help you. I believe the best course of action is to do imaging of your brain. Diagnostic spells can only show so much."

"And if nothing turns up on the imaging? What then?" He dropped his hand.

"If that is the case, I would refer you to one of our Mind Healers. The imaging can only show organic causes of memory loss. If the amnesia was magically induced… that is something that a Mind Healer will be able to determine. Does that make sense?"

I nodded. "Yes."

Healer Southwark studied me. "You're taking this rather well for someone who can't remember magic."

My mouth opened and then closed. I frowned. Nurse Maggie ratted on me.

"Nurse Maggie told me you were very surprised by her warming charm. You were also very distressed by our use of magic last night." He frowned. "There's also the subject of your injuries I wanted to discuss with you, Miss Evans. They were all magically induced – curses, to be precise. I believe you were attacked and I floo called the DMLE."

"DMLE?" My head was starting to ache. I knew what it was, but Healer Southwark didn't need to know that.

"It's an acronym for Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I'm obligated to inform the DMLE if I believe one of my patients was involved in assault or abuse. They are investigating your case. I'm afraid the clothes you wore when you arrived have been taken as evidence."

"Oh." Well wasn't that just swell? "I'm not going to be of much help to them, what with my memory and all."

"They will be made aware of your condition. But if you do remember anything related to the attack, be sure to let them know."

"Okay. I will. Well, I don't know how to contact them…"

"No need to worry, Miss Evans. I'm going to talk with my Nurse and she's going to help you navigate things."

He left me alone to my thoughts. So I was attacked – or at least, Iris Evans was attacked. Why? Had it been a random criminal? Or perhaps…

"Oh shit." What day was it – no, what year was it? I had to know. Wasn't that something doctors usually asked amnesia patients? I kicked the covers off my body and slid out of the hospital bed. The tiled floor beneath my feet was cold like the rest of the room. I glanced around the room. It was empty. Not a single newspaper. That meant I had to ask for one, and that meant socializing. Damn.

Feeling tense, I pulled the curtain back and padded my way out of the room toward the nurses station. There were three witches there. One was reviewing a long scroll of parchment and the other two were laughing and gossiping. I cleared my throat as I approached.

"Um, excuse me?" God, I sounded pathetic. Why couldn't my head trauma change my personality?

One of the gossipy nurses turned to face me. There was a look of recognition in her steel coloured eyes. I could swear she was trying not to smirk. "Can I help you, _Miss Evans_?" Oh yes, there was definitely some venom in that tone. I glanced at her ID badge. Cordelia Greengrass, Trainee. I filed that name away for later.

"Yes Miss Greengrass, you can. Is there a newspaper I can read so I can catch up with the times?" I said in my most polite voice.

She smiled thinly and flicked her wand. A newspaper from their desk leapt into my hands, almost hitting me in the face. Greengrass gave me a look of contempt she didn't bother to veil. "Today's edition," She said. "Enjoy."

"Thank you." Wanting to read it in privacy, I made my way back to my room. Sitting on the edge of my bed I looked at the front page.

 **November 1** **st** **, 1981**

 **HARRY POTTER, THE BOY-WHO LIVED?**

"Good morning, Miss Evans."

I looked up, startled, and saw a man I could recognize anywhere. Albus Dumbledore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"You look… familiar."

"Ah yes, Gerard did inform me of your condition. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school you were attending only four months ago. It is my understanding that you cannot remember anything about magic?"

I nodded. "That's correct."

"That is very unfortunate, indeed." He seemed sincere, but his presence was making me tense. "I hope that you regain your memory soon enough."

"Um, thank you, sir."

"You must be wondering why I'm here, if I'm but a Headmaster of a former school you attended."

"Yes, I was actually. I didn't want to be rude, though."

"It is quite all right, my dear. It's a natural line of thought." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I am here with some rather unfortunate news. May I sit?"

"Um," I glanced around but didn't see any chairs. I looked at him in confusion. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and swung it about and a split second later a large purple armchair with sequins fell out of midair. I yelped in surprise.

"My apologies, Miss Evans," he said. "I didn't intend to frighten you. I ought to have warned you beforehand." Dumbledore made himself comfortable in the chair.

"It's okay, sir." I felt so… awkward. Why couldn't I be wearing clothes instead of the hospital gown? "If you don't mind me asking… what is this about?"

"I'm here to discuss a very delicate subject matter with you." His eyes grew sad. "Do you remember your family, Miss Evans?"

My breath hitched. "Family?" Images of my parents flickered in my mind. "I know I had a mum and a dad, but that's the extent of it. Why?"

"Your parents were not your only family. You have two sisters. One who attended Hogwarts with you." He looked old and weary. "Her name was Lily. I regret to inform you that she and her husband were killed last night by the darkest wizard in our world."

"I-what?"

I had considered that Iris could be related to Lily, but hadn't thought it to be true.

"I'm very sorry, Iris." And he looked it.

"What about my other sister? You said I have two?"

"Ah, yes. No need to worry, Petunia is safe and sound with her husband."

Suddenly I understood what this meeting was about.

"I'm glad to hear that. Um… was that all you wanted to tell me, sir?"

"I'm afraid there is more to tell." He sighed. "Your sister and her husband had a son. It was he who was targeted by the dark wizard Voldemort. Voldemort attempted to kill Harry, but his mother protected him with her sacrifice. Harry survived and the curse rebounded.

"You must be wondering what that has to do with you."

Oh I knew exactly where this was going. I nodded.

"Voldemort is gone, but I do not believe him to be dead. Harry is still in danger and needs to be protected. There is a type of magic I can place on him that will keep him safe and protected from Voldemort. It is called the bond of blood, and it will only work in the place where his mother's blood dwells."

"You want me to take him, don't you?"

"He must live with either you, or your sister Petunia. The decision must be made today. After twenty-four hours it will be too late to place the charm."

Well, there was no way I was letting Harry get abused for the rest of his life.

"Sir, if I may ask, how do you know that she… she sacrificed herself? Or that the curse rebounded?"

"You will find that there are many ways to stay informed with magic." He smiled.

Okay… that was a non-answer.

"Mr. Dumbledore, sir… if it's a home he needs, I'll be happy to take in my nephew. Of course – how could I not?"

"Excellent." His eyes twinkled. "I will place the charm this afternoon." Dumbledore stood. With a quick flick of his wand the armchair disappeared. "Farewell, Miss Evans."

After his departure Nurse Maggie returned and brought me to the imaging room. I shivered. Like all other rooms in the hospital, the imaging room was cold. Goosebumps lined my arms.

"So," I eyed what looked like a silver astronaut helmet. "How exactly does that work?"

Nurse Maggie had her wand out and was making patterns in the air with it. Every now and again energy and light would burst out of the rod and bathe the helmet. She glanced at me, brown eyes shining. "Magic."

I almost rolled my eyes at that answer. "Where do the images of my brain come out of? It looks completely smooth." I eyed it skeptically.

"The answer to that is also magic." She put her wand into the pocket of her robes. "All right, it is ready. Go ahead and sit. The process will only take five minutes at most."

I sat on the metal chair in the center of the room and Nurse Maggie placed the helmet on my head. It covered my eyes, plunging me into darkness.

"Keep your eyes closed and try to stay still. This wont hurt a bit."

Though my eyes were shut I could see the blue light through my lids. It was stuffy and smelled of rust, even though the helmet was spotless. I felt like my head was dunked into icy water while the rest of my body was being warmed by the suns rays. It was disconcerting.

"All right, we're all done."

I felt the weight lifted off my head and opened my eyes. Nurse Maggie smiled as she magically set the helmet back onto the stand. In her hand were what looked like several old school x-rays. "We've got what we need. I'll send these images to Healer Southwark right away."

When she said right away she wasn't joking. She tapped the images with her wand and they zoomed into what looked like one of several mail slots in the wall. This particular slot was labeled Southwark. "Do those end up at his desk or something?"

"That's exactly right, Iris." Maggie put her wand away. "All we have to do now is wait for him to review them. Now, would you like some breakfast? You must be famished."

Nurse Maggie took me back to my room and brought me something to eat. My breakfast consisted of bland scrambled eggs, burnt toast, and bitter orange juice. Despite the taste I finished it off quickly and set the tray aside. All that was left was to play the waiting game. I decided the best way to kill time was to explore the Daily Prophet that Cordelia Greengrass tossed at me early. I never did get to finish the article.

I turned around to grab it from the side table only to find it had disappeared. Had someone stolen my only source of entertainment from me? I scowled and slipped off the edge of the bed. I pulled up the fallen blanket and knelt down to check underneath the hospital bed. Nothing.

Someone was screwing with me.

Who would take my damn newspaper?

With a huff of annoyance I sat back down on the bed. I bet it was Greengrass who stole it. She seemed to have some sort of history with Iris. My guess is that they were rivals or enemies at Hogwarts. Probably a Slytherin-Gryffindor thing.

I laid on my back and stared up at the ceiling thinking about what I knew so far. Apparently in this universe, Mr. and Mrs. Evans had one more daughter and I was inhabiting her body. She was a witch and the youngest of three. She attended Hogwarts and just finished school about four months prior. Blood status: muggleborn. Occupation: unknown.

The only visitor Iris had was Dumbledore, and that was because he wanted to guilt trip Iris into taking on a baby. Did that mean Iris had no friends? Or did she, and they just didn't know something had happened to her? Did she have a boyfriend – or girlfriend? If so, how was I meant to deal with that?

Did Iris know Snape? Were they or had they been close? Or did they have a bad history, like with Petunia? If he saw me would he feel guilty? Did he know Legilimency now and would he dare use it against me? Should I confess to someone that I'm a completely different person, or would they set the Unspeakables on me? Or what if they did worse to me, considering it was war-time?

No, I couldn't trust anyone.

Footsteps sounded in the room and I sat up right as the curtain was drawn. Healer Southwark greeted me with a small smile. "Hello, Miss Evans. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine, thank you." I said. "What were the results of the imaging?"

"Everything on the images looked normal. Your head trauma has been healed. There was no sign of lingering spells other than after effects of healing magic. No dark magic." He clapped his hands together.

"Okay… does that mean magic caused the amnesia?"

"We cannot be sure, as the imaging would not be able to determine that. Have you remembered anything at all?"

I shook my head. "Not a thing."

Healer Southwark took out his wand and conjured a roll of parchment and quill. "I'm referring your case to a Mind Healer. They will be better equipped to handle your condition. It shouldn't take longer than a week for you to get in to see them." Once he finished writing the parchment and quill disappeared with a pop. He smiled at me.

"I don't believe you'll need to be monitored here any longer. You're free to go home."

"How am I supposed to get there? I don't even know where I live." I pointed out.

"Your address is on file – as it turns out, you were here a couple of months ago for a bad case of dragon mumps. Nurse Maggie can help you floo over if you'd like."

"Yes, I'll definitely need help."

"Terrific. I'll send her right over and you can go on your way." Healer Southwark smiled and stretched his hand out. "I wish you the best, Miss Evans."

"Thank you, sir." I shook his hand. "I really appreciate it."

I was left alone to my own devices for a few minutes until Nurse Maggie showed up. In her hands were folded up black clothes. If they were for me it would be a godsend – I hated wearing a hospital gown.

"Ready to go home, Iris?" She grinned, eyes sparkling. "I brought you a simple black robe. Much better than having to wear that gown, eh?" She handed me the robe. "Why don't you change and I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Thank you."

Once she left I unfolded the robe and stared at it. It was simple, as Nurse Maggie said, but made of soft material. I quickly took off the gown and pulled on the robe. Although much more comfortable than the gown, it still didn't feel quite right. I needed muggle clothes, that much was certain. I left the gown folded up on the bed and waited patiently for the witch to return.

"All ready?" She said and pulled open the curtain. "Come along. Now let me tell you about the floo network…"

I followed Nurse Maggie down the hall, eyeing the paintings lining the walls. Some coughed, others snored, and several watched me as we approached the double doors. An elderly wizard tinged green was shouting out different diagnoses in a gravelly voice as I walked past.

"…you need is some floo powder, which you must have if you floo'd here in the first place. If you need more, you can purchase it at Diagon Alley. I'll give you the floo address before you leave. Now, you ought to have a vault at Gringotts, the wizarding bank at Diagon Alley. If you need money you can withdrawal it from there. Don't be alarmed by the goblins – they aren't the most pleasant creatures but they know their business."

I nodded, trying to remember every detail. We walked past the staircase and toward a fireplace. Across from it was a sofa and a couple of comfortable looking armchairs. An elderly old woman was snoozing in the armchair on the right.

Nurse Maggie flicked her wand and mumbled a word I didn't catch. A piece of parchment popped into existence above her palm. "Here is a list of public floo addresses. If you need a nurse, you can floo call this here." She pointed to the words _St. Mungos – Nurse Helpline._ "Floo calling, or fire calls, work the same way as normal floo except you only stick your head into the fireplace rather than your whole body."

She handed me the parchment and I took it. "Great, thank you."

"I've written down the floo address we have on file for you. I'm going to walk you through it and I'll go with you. Is that all right?"

I nodded. "Yes. That's all right."

I followed Nurse Maggie's instructions, grabbing a handful of floo powder and tossing it into the fire. I watched as the flames turned a beautiful emerald green. I walked into the fire. The cool flames licked at my bare shins. It was, like many things in the magical world, disconcerting but decidedly _cool_. I couldn't stop grinning.

Nurse Maggie nodded and said, "Go ahead. I'll follow after you."

"17 Spindle Street."

It was an odd sensation, travelling through a dark tunnel at an incredible speed. I passed by several hundred grates before getting thrown out of a fireplace. I tried to stay upright but tripped and landed face first in a cloud of ashes. I coughed and brushed myself off before standing.

The living room was destroyed. Broken chairs were strewn about. A bookshelf was collapsed and the tomes were scattered across the floor, their pages torn out. Broken glass littered the blood smeared floorboards. A chill went up my spine.

Nurse Maggie appeared in grate behind me and I turned around. Her face was blank as she eyed the destruction behind me. "I wrote down the DMLE's contact information on your parchment as well. I would contact them as soon as possible."

"Have they already investigated my home? Is it okay for me to clean up, or is it evidence?"

"To my knowledge, they concluded their investigation last night. Magical investigation is much faster than muggle, after all. But to be sure, I'd contact them." Nurse Maggie placed a hand on my arm. "If you need anything, feel free to fire call me, all right Iris?"

"I – of course. Thank you for all of your help, nurse."

She smiled and stepped back toward the fireplace. "Take care of yourself, Iris." She tossed floo powder into the fire and stepped into the emerald flames. "St. Mungos," she said and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone who has left a review, I really do appreciate when people take the time to leave comments! I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Feel free to share your thoughts with me :)**


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